A little bit of crafting here, some fun projects with kids there, and the barest scrap of cleaning tips thrown in for good measure. Enjoy reading, but have even more fun doing - this blog is all about showing you how-to...be homemade!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Reason for the Season

So, in our house we talk a lot about Christmas. A LOT! My oldest is so "exciting" (it's what she says vs. excited - and I love it, I wish she'd never stop, even if the other 7th graders would make fun of her) for everything - Santa, snow, going to Grandma's, and of course, presents. We have several nativities (I collect them) so we played with them last year and talked about Jesus being born, but I'm not sure how much sunk in to that 2-year-old brain. This year, I decided to make our Advent calendar more than just a treat every day. I Googled "children's version of Christmas Story."There are hundreds - so I took a little from here, a little from there, and I tried to emphasize things my kids talk about - feet getting tired, babies in bellies, being safe at night, looking up and seeing stars. Then, I divided the story into 24 parts and came up with some questions that a 3-year-old would be able to answer for each part. I'm going to put a section and its questions in each door of our Advent calender (we have a wooden tree shaped calender). I'm thinking of putting the story into a scrapbook and leaving spaces for their answers . . . we'll see if I get that organized! Plus, I'd need pictures - yikes! I do think we'll have to read the whole story every day - I don't think I can keep them hanging on every word if they only get a sentence a day. Tomorrow, I'm going to consult Tim Piper, my personal graphic designer (and brother) to see if he has time to make this into a fun printable for you to cut out if you'd like to use it in your own Advent calender (or, if he's busy at his real job, I'll just put it in Excel...). If you'd like a copy, email me at cameron.homemade@gmail.com and I'll send you a PDF of whatever I do get whipped up.

A very long time ago, Mary and Joseph went on a journey to Bethlehem. It was a long journey, and Mary had to ride
on a donkey.

1) Have you had to go
on a long journey? Where did you
go? How did you get there?

Mary had baby Jesus in her belly, so it was nice of the
donkey to let her ride so her feet wouldn’t get tired.

2) Do your feet get
tired sometimes? What do you do?

When Mary and Joseph finally got to Bethlehem, they wanted to stay at a hotel,
but all the rooms were full.

3) Have you ever
stayed in a hotel? What would you do if the rooms were all full?

Finally, someone told Joseph there was a little bit of room
in the barn with the animals if he and Mary wanted to spend the night there.

4) Do you think you
would like to sleep in a barn?

Mary and Joseph were very thankful to have a warm place to
lie down and rest.

5) Do you have a warm
place to sleep? What are you thankful
for?

They didn’t mind that it wasn’t a fancy hotel room, and that
there wasn’t any pool to swim in.

6) Is it OK if you
don’t always get what you want? What
other fun things could you do in a barn?

That night, Christmas Eve, a miracle happened.

7) Do you know what a
miracle is?

Mary had her baby, right there in the barn! Baby Jesus was more than just a tiny baby –
he is the King of Kings, the One who would save the world.

8) Where were you
born?

Mary was very happy to have Baby Jesus safe in her arms. She hugged him close.

9) Do you know
someone who is happy to give you big hugs?

She wrapped him up in warm clothes and laid him in the soft
hay on the manger, where the cows usually ate.
The cows didn’t mind giving up their hay for Baby Jesus.

10) What do you wear
when you sleep? Have you ever given up
something you wanted so someone else could be happy?

In the fields outside of Bethlehem, some shepherds were watching their
sheep to keep them safe during the night.

11) Who watches over
you at night to keep you safe?

As soon as Baby Jesus was born, there was a bright light in
the sky over the shepherds. It was so
bright that the shepherds couldn’t see, and they had to close their eyes.

12) What do you see
when you look up into the sky at night?

When they opened their eyes, they saw a beautiful angel floating
in the air above them. They couldn’t
believe what they were seeing. It was a
miracle.

13) Can you think of
any miracles that have happened to you?

At first, the shepherds were afraid, but the angel said, “Do
not be afraid. I’m here to bring you
good news. Today in Bethlehem a baby has been born, He is the one
that will save the world. You will know
the baby because he will be wrapped in cloths, and laying in a manger.”

14) Are you afraid
sometimes?

Suddenly, a whole choir of angels joined the first
angel. A choir is a big group that
usually sings. All the angels said,
“Glory to God, and peace to all people on Earth,” and then they floated
away.

15) Do you like to
sing? Do you know what peace is? How can you be peaceful?

The shepherds were so happy, and they wondered – did the
angels tell everybody the good news, or just them? They decided to go into Bethlehem to find Baby Jesus.

16) Do you have any
good news? Who do you want to tell?

The shepherds went into Bethlehem, and they looked and looked for
Baby Jesus? Finally, they found the barn
where Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus were staying.

17) Have you ever
looked for something? Where did you
look?

When they saw Baby Jesus, the shepherds were so happy they
had found the Lord, and they got down on their knees beside him.

18) Why were the
shepherds so happy? What makes you
happy?

Far away, in another country, some wise men were riding
their camels when they saw the same star that the shepherds had seen shining in
the sky. They were very wise men, and
they knew from all the books they read that this bright and shining star meant
that the King of the Jews, the One who would save the world, had been
born.

19) Do you read
books? What have you learned?

The wise men followed the path that the star made at night,
and it led them East to Bethlehem,
where Mary and Joseph were still staying with Baby Jesus.

20) Can you follow a path? Where
does it go?

The wise men were very excited to see the Baby Jesus. They bowed down and worshiped him, because
he was the King of Kings.

21) Worship is like prayer. Do you pray for anyone?

The wise men brought gifts for Baby Jesus, and they helped
Baby Jesus open them. The gifts weren’t
baby toys, they were very special gifts, meant for a king.

22) Why did the wise
men bring gifts for Baby Jesus?

The gifts were gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Frankincense and myrrh are special gifts that
are made from tree sap and smell good.

23) Can you think of
a special gift you’ve gotten?

Christmas is a wonderful time of year because we remember
that Baby Jesus was born to save the World, and we are thankful for this
miracle.

2 comments:

What an absolutely darling and clever idea! I'm totally going to do this with my kiddos this year and love how much more "real" and personal it makes it. Thank you so much for sharing this with us at Inspiration Friday this week!Vanessa